Opinions on the various 6950 models...

[trooper11]

Ive been waiting on a video card update but now Im ready and Ive narrowed it down to a 6950 2GB card. The only issue is that I am having trouble deciding on which brand/model to go with.


Im not worried about being able to unlock the card and while getting a factory overclocked card or a card that can be overclocked is a nice bonus, those are top priority either. My main issue is cooling and noise. I have read alot of conflicting opinions on which cooler designs give the best result in the cooling/noise department.

Of course if there are other features that make one brand stand out among the rest, im happy to consider those too. I know XFX is a good choice considering its warranty period, but its gotten mixed reviews so its not a clear choice to me. Anything you guys can offer advice wise would be much appreciated.

Oh and for reference, I will be installing this card into an Antec NSK 4480. I have done some measurements and it looks like Ive got the clearance for the 10-10.5" 6950 cards, but if anyone has an opinion on using this case with this card, that would be helpful too. Thanks.

 

[risqu3]

if you are going for the refrence model because you want to unlock it, it only depends on the warranty/service of the OEM. If you are buying a custom design, you can't unlock the shaders on those, and they are all different. I've heard the ASUS DirectCU II cards are pretty good.

pretty much:

XFX
ASUS


MSI

<rest>



Powercolour

 

[Iamthelaw]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150523

 

[risqu3]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127555 what i would chose $245 after rebate with free shippiung.

 

[adoru65535]

are you planning crossfire in the future?

if you do, you may want to take your motherboard into consideration as well when doing crossfire, the space between PCIes could affect how you want to cool the video cards and ultimately may cause unnecessary noise if the two cards (with certain type of cooling) stacking up too closely.
http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1596910

In case you want a single card and that's it, all the choices above mentioned by others are fairly good.

 

[flexcore]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150523

Thats only 1GB though. Just so you know before you buy it.

 

[NotJay]

if you are going for the refrence model because you want to unlock it, it only depends on the warranty/service of the OEM. If you are buying a custom design, you can't unlock the shaders on those, and they are all different. I've heard the ASUS DirectCU II cards are pretty good.

i have 6950 DC II and have shader unlocked.

 

[trooper11]

thanks for the replies.

i am only interested in running a single card. as far as the unlocking goes, im not basing my card choice on being able to do that.

I actually had that HIS 2GB card on my list from newegg, but i was unsure about the cooling. i saw some of the XFX units with a fan in the middle of the card, two fans, or with the fan at the far end like that HIS. Does anyone think that fan placement makes a noticeable difference for cooling?

For example, this XFX card:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150530

or this MSI model:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127575

The MSI model is quite the premium, so im not sure if its cooler is worth it.

 

[NotJay]

thanks for the replies.

i am only interested in running a single card. as far as the unlocking goes, im not basing my card choice on being able to do that.

I actually had that HIS 2GB card on my list from newegg, but i was unsure about the cooling. i saw some of the XFX units with a fan in the middle of the card, two fans, or with the fan at the far end like that HIS. Does anyone think that fan placement makes a noticeable difference for cooling?

For example, this XFX card:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150530

or this MSI model:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127575

The MSI model is quite the premium, so im not sure if its cooler is worth it.

if msi custom design is anything like asus dcII. it should be very quiet and cool
i barely hear my 6950 on load

 

[rangda]

i am only interested in running a single card. as far as the unlocking goes, im not basing my card choice on being able to do that.

I had a pair of the Twin Frozrs for a bit before I RMA'ed them for reference cards (that was my thread someone linked to). I never ran a reference 6950 as a single card but I can tell you that a single Frozr was either quieter or cooler than my single 5870 depending on the fan profile I used on the 5870. Default fan profile was a bit quieter than the Frozr but a lot hotter & my custom profile was the same temp but louder.

One thing to keep in mind with the Frozr (and all of the dual fan heat pipe cards like it) is that most of the air coming off the heat sink will end up in your case; a reference card exhausts all of the hot air out of the case. This may or may not matter depending on what sort of cooling your case has.

 

[trooper11]

I found a pretty good deal on a Sapphire card that looks like it would have better cooling than average, but i haven't been able to find any reviews. If anyone owns this model or can give some impressions of it, that would be great.

http://www.sapphiretech.com/presentation/product/?leg=&psn=000101&pid=1082

I found this card available for $255, which seems like a great deal, but im not sure if its worth giving up say the lifetime warranty id get with an XFX card. There is an XFX card with a similar fan layout, but the customer reviews i read on it weren't very favorable.

 

[depraved]

I usually go XFX for double lifetime warranty. However, this time around I went with MSI, i've had a few MSI cards before and never had any problems and I can still boast to that same record. I'd go XFX, MSI, ASUS, in any order.

 

[2004raptor]

I went with the XFX (first time user) simply for the warranty.

I did unlock the shaders but haven't bothered overclocking.